


The Haunting of Lee Jihoon

by wooziwinks



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Established Relationship, Fluff, Friends With Benefits, Gen, Ghosts, Haunted Houses, Humor, M/M, Not AU, jigyu are still roommates okay, jihoonie is a scaredy cat
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-04
Updated: 2020-08-04
Packaged: 2021-03-05 20:48:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,829
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25711609
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wooziwinks/pseuds/wooziwinks
Summary: There's something bothering Jihoon and Mingyu helps get to the bottom of it. At least he tries - but this problem might be too big for either of them to handle. // It's way more fluff and humor than horror, I promise!
Relationships: Kim Mingyu/Lee Jihoon | Woozi
Comments: 3
Kudos: 50





	The Haunting of Lee Jihoon

**Author's Note:**

> this fic takes place in the same universe as And They Were Roommates but you don't need to have read that, just know that jigyu are roommates and fuck buddies

It started with Jihoon treating Mingyu to a midnight snack* three times in one week. 

*In Jihoon’s context, _ midnight snack _ was a full meal of soups and meat, but eaten at one in the morning. 

It was while they were patting their stomachs and Jihoon was looking over the bill that it finally came up. 

“You’re not a cheap date, Gyu, I hope you know.”

The older man commented as he tucked his card against the receipt to hand off to their server, though the fondness of his smile didn’t match his accusation at all. Mingyu just shrugged and chuckled, not about to comment on how good a pair they made: he had expensive taste, and Jihoon loved to spoil. And yet…

“That doesn’t seem to stop you, hyung, isn’t this our third time this week?”

“Yeah, well.”

The older man answered without looking at him, instead scooping up the last bit of rice in his bowl to shovel into his mouth. 

“Well, you’re lucky I happen to be up to receive your late night invites, hyung.”

The younger man teased. 

Actually, he wasn’t too sure who was more lucky in these situations, though Jihoon did seem to have some kind of motivation to meet up that Mingyu wasn’t privy to - yet. He wasn’t so naive to think that it was just about seeing him - after all, Jihoon already saw a lot of him, and he never had been the clingy type. 

Even so, the younger man was always eager to please (and even more eager to spend time with Jihoon) and he’d be lying if he said he hadn’t been waiting up for those late night texts, lately. 

“I guess so.”

Jihoon sighed in response, and the somewhat glum response was enough to sober the younger man up from his teasing. There was definitely something on the man’s mind, he knew that much. 

Mingyu peered into his face, but he betrayed nothing, even finally meeting his gaze with his own blank one. 

“Is there some kind of reason?”

The younger man prompted, because he could tell there was. Jihoon sighed again, dropping his gaze to pick at a spot on the table and shrugging too stiffly to pass as casual. 

Mingyu let it drop after that, but it came back up again on their walk home together. 

It was dark and quiet and a little misty this late at night, and the pair walked close to each other’s sides, hand in hand. They’d been chatting before but now only the chirp of midnight crickets stretched between them, until Jihoon picked up where they’d left off in the restaurant as if no time had passed. 

“It’s just that,”

He started, rubbing at the back of his neck with his free hand as he spoke, 

“I guess Soonyoung had been spending a lot of time in the studio with me lately, but now he’s stopped since he’s busy with the choreography stuff.”

Mingyu pursed his lips down at the man, already beginning to put the pieces together. 

“So you’ve been lonely.”

Jihoon glanced away and shoved his hand deep in his pocket, finally grumbling, 

“Something like that...”

Mingyu’s heart leapt in his chest. Oh no! Wasn’t this everyone’s worst fear? (It certainly was his!) All this time Jihoonie was slaving away in the studio, late into the night, and he was  _ lonely  _ while doing it? This would not do at all. 

He gave the older man’s hand a squeeze. 

“Hyung, that breaks my heart to hear. Of course I’ll spend more time with you if that’s the case.”

Jihoon looked a little uneasy, dropping his gaze down to his feet again as he walked, but Mingyu didn’t press him any more on it. He knew the older man was not the type to ask for help, so this couldn’t have been an easy conversation for him. It was all the more motivation for Mingyu to help in any way he could. 

  
  


~~~~~~~~~~

  
  


“It's kind of distracting having you here.”

Jihoon mumbled against Mingyu’s shoulder with a grin before sinking his teeth into the muscular flesh, earning a hiss from above as the younger man pinned him down on the couch with a breathy giggle. 

“I'm getting mixed signals here, hyung.”

The younger man teased, slipping his hands beneath Jihoon’s shirt to rub circles into the toned muscle it hid.

“I thought you wanted some company to replace Soonyoung.”

Jihoon sighed and wiggled a bit beneath the man’s large hands, bringing his own up to thread through dark curls. 

“Yeah, but you're different.”

Mingyu’s chest fluttered at the assertion, but he leaned up to peer into the man’s face with a curious expression.

“Do you mean to tell me this  _ isn’t _ what you and Soonyoung would get up to in here?”

Jihoon tilted his head slightly to the side. 

“No, why?”

Mingyu huffed out a laugh, then couldn’t resist leaning down to nip at the man’s jaw as he answered,

“Nothing, you're just helping me win a bet I had with Chan.”

“Don't make bets about my sex life, Kim Mingyu.”

Jihoon asserted, but it lost its bite as he sighed at the feeling of lips against his skin, using the hand in Mingyu’s hair to pull the man closer against him. 

“Why not? It’s easy money.”

It was the younger’s turn to mumble against skin as he trailed kisses down Jihoon’s neck, pulling him closer by the hips as he worked. He was joking of course, but there was a part of him that wasn’t, too. At this point, he probably knew the most about Jihoon’s sex life. 

After fooling around for the greater part of the evening Jihoon finally called it quits and packed up for the night. He seemed pleased when Mingyu revealed he had the car with him, perhaps eager to skip the walk home for once, though he had expressed to the younger man in the past that he actually enjoyed that meditative time.

When Mingyu stole a glance over at Jihoon as he drove them home his chest swelled at the sight of the man nearly dozing off in the passenger seat, head slumped against the strap of his seatbelt and eyes half lidded as he gazed out the window. 

Suddenly though the older man perked up as they moved down the block, sitting up straight and pressing his nose to the glass to stare at one of the buildings as they passed it, even craning his neck over his shoulder to watch until it was out of sight. Mingyu pulled his eyebrows together, trying to steal glances at the building too but not spotting anything in particular. 

“Looking for something?”

He asked. Jihoon jumped before twisting back around in his seat to peer back at him owlishly. 

“Nothing.”

He answered too quickly, and Mingyu frowned at the response but didn’t push it. Honestly if he interrogated Jihoon every time he was acting weird, it would be never ending. 

  
  


~~~~~~~~~~

  
  


The next time Jihoon spent a late night at the studio, Mingyu had been watching a movie with the others until late and just decided to swing by afterwards to pick his roommate up. 

When he knocked and let himself into the studio, he was surprised and more than a little endeared to find the man curled up and dozing on the couch, apparently having fallen asleep waiting for him. 

Mingyu crossed over and perched himself on the edge of the couch, reaching down to stroke the hair away from Jihoon’s forehead. The older man stirred in his sleep then suddenly jumped, eyes flying open as he propped himself up on his elbows. 

“It’s just me, hyung!”

The younger man reassured, squeezing a hand to the man’s shoulder by way of reassurance. Jihoon groaned and flopped back against the cushions, scrubbing his hands into his eyes to try and rouse himself from his sleepiness. 

“Gyu…”

“Did you eat? Are you hungry?”

The younger man prompted, rubbing his hyung’s belly through his sweater for emphasis, and to try and help wake him up a bit. But Jihoon just sat up with a shake of his head, dragging his hands through his hair a few times before replacing the cap on his head from where it’d been discarded for his nap. 

“I’m too tired, let’s just go home.”

Mingyu nodded and helped the man close up the studio for the night, then took his hand as they stepped out into the night together. 

“You don’t have the car?”

Jihoon looked a little surprised, peering up at his roommate, who shrugged. 

“There wasn’t one available so I just walked.”

It was starting to get a little tedious sharing three cars among all the members, as more of them got their licenses. But that was a discussion for another day. 

Jihoon didn’t budge as Mingyu turned to head for the corner, and he was frowning when the younger turned to blink back at him. 

“Let’s - go the long way back.”

He finally declared, turning to lead Mingyu by the hand in the other direction. 

“I thought you were tired!”

The younger laughed but allowed himself to be led across the street. Actually he preferred this way home, because it went past the park and was a little more scenic. But it was definitely not the most direct and added a few extra blocks to the usual route. 

“Yeah, well.”

Jihoon just grumbled, the phrase starting to become what he said when he didn’t know what to say. Mingyu peered down at the man with pursed lips, swinging their hands together lightly as they walked through the night. 

His roommate slash fuckbuddy had this way of throwing down puzzle pieces for Mingyu to pick up and put together, because a lot of detective work was needed with someone as closed off and stubborn as Jihoon. 

Mingyu was getting pretty good at it, too, if he did say so himself, and he had racked up several successful cases at this point: there was The Case of the Sleepless Jihoon (he had been worried about the album and not sleeping well, as Mingyu had discovered) and The Mystery of Why Jihoon was Avoiding Him (that had ended up being a misunderstanding because his roommate was hiding a gift he’d bought him for his birthday) and a career favorite for Mingyu, the Case of the Flustered Jihoon (which was actually just a long week of his hyung trying to work up the courage to ask about trying bondage). 

But so far, this case was not adding up. Nothing seemed particularly wrong with Jihoon, except when he started acting strange. He wasn’t distressed, he was eating and sleeping and working like usual, and he had already admitted that this was just about feeling lonely late at night at the studio. Yet Mingyu couldn’t help but suspect that that wasn’t the only thing going on here. If it was, then why was Jihoon still acting weird now that Mingyu was with him? 

“Is everything okay, hyung?”

He inquired with pursed lips, giving his roommate’s hand a firm squeeze. He watched Jihoon peer down at his feet, then off into the distance, then finally lift his gaze to nod up at him, returning the hand squeeze. 

“Yeah, I’m fine.”

It didn’t seem like a lie, but it didn’t seem like the whole truth either, Mingyu thought with a slight frown. They walked in silence after that. 

  
  


~~~~~~~~~~

  
  


One night, Mingyu awoke with a start to the sound of their bedroom door slamming. He propped himself up on his elbows to frown at the intruder only to find that it was his roommate, huffing and pink cheeked as he dumped his bag on the floor and tugged off his hoodie. 

“Did you run home?”

The younger pulled his eyebrows together in sleepy confusion, rubbing one hand into his eye as he scrambled for his phone with the other. 

“What time is it?”

He squinted at the bright light of his cell phone, noting that it was after two in the morning. He didn’t even remember getting into bed, but he must have dozed off at some point. 

“You didn’t answer any of my texts.”

Jihoon snapped from his side of the room, still busy stripping down and trying to catch his breath, wiping sweat from the back of his neck. Mingyu noted the many inbound texts and calls he’d received from his roommate with a frown, but he was too tired to feel very guilty. 

“Sorry hyung, I fell asleep.”

“Whatever.”

The older man snapped again before flopping down on his bed, turned away from the younger man. Mingyu sat up to peer across at him. 

“Come on, I can’t  _ always _ stay up with you, hyung. You’re ruining my sleep schedule, you know.”

He tried to lighten the mood a bit, but Jihoon kept his back to him, his shoulders stiff. Mingyu rolled his eyes and crawled to his feet to cross over and perch on the edge of his roommate’s bed. He couldn’t hold his tongue about this any longer, investigation be damned. 

“You can’t seriously be mad at me for falling asleep. What’s this really about?”

The older man just grunted in response, not budging, and Mingyu sighed. 

“Okay, I’m sorry it had to come to this, hyung, but you leave me no choice.”

This was a method he saved for only the most difficult of cases. In one quick motion and despite the frantic squeak of  _ What’re you doing?! _ from his roommate, Mingyu crawled up to take a seat directly on the man’s chest, crossing his arms as he frowned down at him. 

“Get off of me!”

Jihoon grunted, trying to squirm out from underneath his roommate, but it was useless, the six-foot-something man like dead weight on him. Mingyu didn’t even budge as he explained solemnly, 

“I won’t move until you tell me what’s been up with you lately.”

“What do you  _ mean!” _

The older man strained, pushing up on the weight of the man on his chest but making no progress. He squeezed his eyes shut, face pink from the effort, and it made the corner of Mingyu’s lips twitch, though he schooled his expression back to a serious one. No matter how cute his roommate was, he had to remain strong. 

“You know what I mean. Something’s up with you, so talk.”

Jihoon huffed a few times, turning his face to hide against his pillow as he choked out,

“How am I supposed to talk when you’re crushing my lungs!”

“Do you promise you’re gonna talk?”

Mingyu kept his arms crossed, frowning mercilessly down at his suffering roommate without budging. The older man nodded into his pillow, finally giving in. 

“I’ll talk, I’ll talk, just get off already!”

The younger man finally relented with a victorious smile, crawling off of his roommate and onto the mattress. Jihoon gasped in a lungful of air and draped an arm over his eyes as he caught his breath, still pink in the face. 

“Jesus Christ, Mingyu!”

He sputtered around gulpfuls of air, finally finding the strength to sit up, sitting cross legged across from the man as he rubbed his face in his hands. Mingyu let him take his time, always happy to take in the sight of a flustered Jihoon. This was a highly effective method of getting what he wanted, he noted for future reference. 

Finally the older man dropped his hands with a sigh, frowning down at where they landed in his lap and swallowing thickly. 

“Look, I… I really don’t wanna talk about this.”

“Don’t make me get back on top of you!”

Mingyu exclaimed, not about to be tricked, but Jihoon just shook his head, running a hand through his hair. 

“It’s fine, I mean it’s whatever. I’ll tell you. It’s just…”

He groaned, dropping his face into his hands again. 

“It’s stupid and I don’t want you to make fun of me.”

It was rushed and muffled slightly against his fingers, but Mingyu still caught it, and he frowned. 

“I won’t hyung, I promise.”

“Well wait until you hear it…”

Jihoon sighed again as he dropped his hands away from his face, using one to rub at his arm self consciously.

“It’s true that it all started when Soonyoung stopped hanging around the studio, but it’s not really about me feeling lonely.”

He started, staring down at the mattress rather than meet Mingyu’s eye as he spoke. 

“I started walking home by myself again, but there’s this abandoned building I always pass on the way back, right? The one near the corner store with the hot dogs.”

He peeked up at Mingyu, who nodded his understanding. Then he dropped his gaze back down to his lap. 

“Well, lately, whenever I walk past it by myself at night I hear this… noise. Like groaning. Like…  _ creepy _ groaning.”

He hid his face in his hands again, finally blurting out the last bit: 

“It keeps happening every time I go alone at night and it’s really creepy and I don’t know what to do about it so I’ve just been avoiding walking home alone ever since!”

His confession ended with a slump of his shoulders. Mingyu just blinked at him, taken aback. 

“You think you’re getting  _ haunted?” _

“Shut up…”

Jihoon groaned from behind his hands, bracing for the onslaught of teasing he’d been dreading from the start. But the younger man gently pried his hands away from his face to offer him a sympathetic purse of the lips. 

“Hey, hyung, I’m not making fun of you, that’s just the facts, isn’t it? You think it’s a ghost haunting you.”

“I don’t believe in that stuff.”

Jihoon grumbled stubbornly, crossing his arms over his chest and adding a little more hesitantly, 

“Not really…”

Mingyu shrugged. 

“I dunno, I mean it could be a ghost.”

He’d never really considered whether he believed in ‘that stuff’ or not, but from the way his hyung described it, ghosts seemed to be in the upper realm of possibility at this point. 

“You’re not helping.”

The older man snapped, the tips of his ears burning pink. Mingyu pouted sympathetically at his roommate, pulling him into his arms for a hug though the man shrugged at the embrace with a grunt. 

“I’m sorry you’re getting haunted, hyung, that must be scary. We’ll figure something out, okay?”

“Whatever…”

Jihoon grumbled against the chest he was being squeezed into, not sounding very convinced. 

  
  


~~~~~~~~~~

  
  


The next night, Mingyu had a plan. It was around one in the morning when he arrived at the studio to pick up Jihoon, with takeout in hand. 

“What’s this?”

The older man mused when his roommate toed his way into the studio with an armload of food, coming forward to offload some of his bounty and help set it up on the table before digging in. 

“It’s fuel.”

Mingyu explained simply as he knelt down across from the man at the table, helping himself to some meat and rice. 

“Wouldn’t want to go ghost hunting on an empty stomach.”

Jihoon froze with his chop sticks halfway to his mouth, eyes going a little wide. 

“Ghost hunt?”

Mingyu pressed his lips together to keep from giggling at the expression his roommate gave him.  _ Cute. _

“Yup!”

He responded cheerfully, still stuffing his face. 

“I want to hear that groaning for myself, to get a better sense of what we’re up against.”

Mingyu added with a sage nod, like he really had any clue what he was doing. Jihoon frowned, eating more tentatively now. 

“I really don’t want to do that.”

“I know but don’t worry, I’ll be here with you.”

Mingyu patted his roommate reassuringly on the head, then at the unconvinced look he received, he added, 

“Plus I don’t have the car, so we don’t really have a choice but to walk.”

“I could call a cab…”

Jihoon grumbled around a mouthful of rice. Mingyu just chuckled. 

“But you’re too stubborn to do that or you would’ve by now. Poor thing, you ran all the way home yesterday.”

He pinched his cheek and the older man grunted, nudging him away not-so-lightly. It only made Mingyu chuckle more, having expected the reaction. 

Tonight was going to be a treat for sure: he was going to see Jihoon being all cute and scared and have that real couple-in-a-haunted-house experience, and as a bonus, he might also get to see a ghost. 

  
  


~~~~~~~~~~

  
  


“Is this the one?”

Mingyu asked as they came to a stop in front of the old abandoned building about halfway to their home, the smell of hot dogs wafting over from the convenience store at the end of the block. 

It was some kind of storefront, not a house, nondescript and grey with boarded up windows except for one that was smashed on the second floor, and the entire thing was surrounded by a chain link fence. In the dark and with the building set so far back from the sidewalk, it was hard to make out much else. 

Mingyu felt Jihoon’s fingers tighten almost painfully around his own, providing the answer to his question. 

“I really don’t want to do this.”

He hissed for about the hundredth time that evening, but Mingyu just smiled down at him, amused. 

“Let’s just listen for the sound, okay?”

They fell quiet then, holding completely still as they strained their ears for the sound. Mingyu began to wonder if he would recognize it when he heard it, but then suddenly - there it was. A long, low groan cut through the silence of the night. And it was definitely coming from the abandoned building. 

They both jumped at the sound and blinked into each other’s faces in surprise. 

“There it is!”

Mingyu gasped.

“I told you!”

Jihoon gulped. 

They froze, listening again, and another groan rang out. Jihoon gripped both of Mingyu’s hands. 

“Let’s leave.”

He tugged at the man, trying to get him to budge, but Mingyu started over to the fence, straining to try and see into the building better. 

“I can’t believe it, it really sounds like a ghost!”

He turned back to Jihoon, barely even noticing his roommate’s feeble attempts at dragging him away. 

“We have to go investigate, hyung!”

“No we don’t!”

Jihoon sputtered, appalled at the suggestion. But Mingyu shook his head solemnly. 

“You’re being haunted, hyung. If you don’t take care of this, it could get worse. What if the ghost follows you home?”

The older man froze, going pale just at the suggestion. 

“Oh my god!”

Mingyu jutted out his bottom lip and patted his roommate on the head, instantly feeling bad for scaring him. 

“It’ll be fine, hyung, let’s just go check this out.”

He turned back to the fence and started working on climbing his way over, ignoring the whines of dismay from Jihoon. 

It was an effort but he finally found the footing to hoist himself over the fence, dropping down onto the dirt with an  _ oof  _ and brushing himself off as he turned back to try and help his roommate over. He was just in time to watch Jihoon easily slip through the gap between fences, giving him a funny look as he went, as if questioning why Mingyu hadn’t done that himself (as if he would’ve fit). 

Mingyu rolled his eyes and switched on the flashlight of his camera, starting towards the building, grinning a bit to himself at the way Jihoon scurried over to glue himself to his side. The front doors were chained closed and obviously not an option for entry so Mingyu led the way around the back of the building, hoping for a back entrance. 

It was overgrown and cluttered behind the building, covered in abandoned pieces of furniture and trash, but as they picked through the weeds, they finally found a back door. It was a rickety old thing with the bottom corner either kicked in or snapped off (or chewed away by animals?) and no chain around it’s handle, though when Mingyu tried to pull it open it didn’t budge. 

“Hm, locked.”

He frowned, planting a hand on his hip as he mulled it over a moment before speculating, 

“Maybe I can…”

He dropped to his knees and reached through the hole in the door, earning an alarmed gasp from Jihoon. He stretched as far as he could, fingers just brushing the handle, but wasn’t quite able to reach the lock. Mingyu sat back on his legs with a huff, scratching at his head. 

“I can’t quite reach it.”

He frowned up at his friend, then blinked. 

“Hold on, you’d definitely fit through that gap, right?”

Jihoon took a step backwards, putting his hands up in defense. 

“No way.”

Mingyu straightened, taking his roommates hands as he implored, 

“It would take two seconds hyung, you just crawl in and unlock the door!”

Jihoon gulped as he peered into the dark gap in the doorway, face pale as he rapidly shook his head. 

“No way! No way.”

Mingyu planted his hands on his hips again, peering back over the building with a sigh. 

“Well I don’t know how else we’ll get in, I mean my next suggestion was that I hoist you in that window…”

He nodded to a shattered window about five feet off the ground further along the back brick wall. It took only a moment for Jihoon to calculate that  _ that  _ plan involved even  _ more _ time alone in the spooky haunted building, which was less than ideal. 

“Can’t you just - break the door down?”

He frowned up at Mingyu in a way that made the man’s stomach do a flip, suddenly wishing he had the strength of a thousand men just so he could grant his hyung’s wish, but instead shaking his head. 

“I think it’d make too much noise. We don’t want anyone noticing we’re here… Plus, I’m not the hulk you think I am, hyung.”

“I don’t think you’re the hulk…”

Jihoon grumbled under his breath, looking disappointed, though Mingyu wasn’t quite sure if it was because he couldn’t break down the door for him or because he was coming to terms with the fact that his roommate wasn’t an Avenger.

Jihoon nibbled on his bottom lip, shuffling a little closer to the back door, eyeing it warily. 

“It’d only be for a second, right…?”

He dropped to his knees in front of the gap of the door, then groaned, hiding his face in his hands. 

“I  _ can’t _ do this…”

Mingyu frowned, crouching down beside the man and planting a reassuring hand on his shoulder. 

“It’s fine if you want to leave, hyung.”

This was basically all fun and games, but actually, he’d never seen his hyung so scared before, and Mingyu felt a little bad. Even as badly as he wanted to see a ghost (or otherwise get to the bottom of this) he didn’t want to do it at the expense of his beloved roommate. 

But Jihoon took a deep breath, steeling himself, his stubbornness apparently outweighing his fear even at a time like this. 

“This is insane, for the record.”

He finally commented, before dropping to his hands and knees and crawling through the gap in the door. 

Mingyu scrambled to his feet and pressed his ear to the door to try and listen to his friend’s progress on the other side, heart thumping in his chest to be separated from him for even a second, suddenly hating this plan. But after some rustling and fiddling with the handle the lock clicked and Jihoon pulled the door open from the inside, struggling from the weight of it. 

The younger man hurried forward to help push it open, exclaiming, 

“Great job, hyung!”

Jihoon met his eye and giggled nervously. 

Suddenly, much closer and louder than before, the long, low groan rang out again. The older man yelped in shock and literally leapt into Mingyu, clutching desperately at his chest while the younger just froze and went pale. 

“It’s the ghost!”

Jihoon whimpered against Mingyu’s hoodie, his roommate nodding slowly as if he’d needed any explanation as to what that sound was. 

“L-let’s go find it.”

He finally hissed back, swallowing thickly and putting on a brave face. He’d gotten them this far, so there was no chickening out now. 

Jihoon whimpered again but shuffled alongside his roommate as he crept his way deeper into the building, keeping himself firmly attached to the man’s side. 

Mingyu felt the arms wrapped tightly around his chest and wished he could enjoy how cute Jihoon was being a little more, but was mostly worrying if the man could feel the way his heart was threatening to thud its way out of his chest. He pushed his way through a pair of double swinging doors and into a wider, open room. 

It was cluttered and overgrown just like the outside, with furniture strewn about. There were file cabinets surrounded by old, yellow papers on the floor, and a handful of beds on wheels, more than one laying on their side and rusted with age. When they spotted the tattered wheelchair missing a wheel in the center of the room, Mingyu gulped. 

“I-I think this place used to be some kind of… medical facility…?”

Jihoon groaned, turning his face into Mingyu’s chest again and freezing in place. 

“This is a  _ nightmare _ this is a  _ literal nightmare _ …”

Mingyu couldn’t help but agree. They were starting to check all the boxes of haunted bingo, here. 

He was just about to shakily suggest that maybe they should turn back when the groan rang out again, louder than ever - and coming from  _ inside the room. _ It was Mingyu who cried out this time and jumped about a mile, while Jihoon simply trembled against his side and whimpered into the fabric of his hoodie like maybe he was crying a little bit. 

They both whipped around searching for the source of the noise, finally spotting an area in the corner sectioned off by hanging sheets. 

The kind used specifically in haunted hospitals to hide the scary dead ghost nurse, or whatever the monster of the day might be. 

Mingyu groaned at the sight of it, reaching his limit. Maybe it had been a bad idea to come here in the first place. 

“This is ridiculous, I can’t believe this is how I’m gonna die…”

Jihoon whimpered shakily before finally detaching himself from Mingyu with a huff. 

“I can’t take it anymore!”

He reached down to pick up a rusty metal bar off the ground, apparently discarded from one of the falling apart gurneys, and clutched Mingyu’s hand tightly in the other, bracing himself. 

“Let’s just get this over with.”

And with that he stomped over to the corner of the room, ignoring the frightened protests of his dongsaeng and dragging him along by the hand before releasing it to rip back the curtains and hold up his weapon (apparently ready to beat up a ghost?). 

There was nothing on the other side. 

The pair both froze and whipped their heads around, looking for the source of the moaning. Jihoon used the bar to turn over a nearby trashcan and nudge another stray gurney, then jumped at the hissing sound it emitted. He shuffled closer despite the frightened whine Mingyu gave, then shoved the bed aside completely. 

Underneath it, laid out on a pile of old hospital gowns, was a fat, black cat. Mingyu shuffled over to stand beside his roommate as they both blinked down at the animal, not sure how to process what they were seeing. 

Suddenly, the cat let out a piercing, low groan, just like the one they’d been hearing all along. 

“You’ve got to be kidding me.”

Jihoon deadpanned as it all clicked into place. But Mingyu had other concerns. 

“What’s  _ wrong, _ kitty? Are you hurt?”

He cooed with a frown, kneeling down and offering his hand to the animal as it flinched back in fear but didn’t move. Jihoon scowled at the sight of his roommate fraternizing with the enemy but Mingyu paid him no mind, gently stroking both hands over the cat and looking it over for any injuries. He massaged at its stomach and the cat gave another, smaller groan to which the man nodded as if they were having a conversation. 

“She’s pregnant for sure.”

He stated up at Jihoon, lips pursed in a frown as he turned back to the cat to stroke at the fur around her neck. 

“No collar, she must be a stray.”

As it finally sunk in that there was no danger, no ghost, and definitely no creepy dead nurse after them, Jihoon collapsed down onto the linoleum beside his roommate, legs stretched out in front of him and hand clutched to his chest. Mingyu frowned over at his roommate as he gasped a few deep breaths in relief with eyes squeezed shut, and reached over to pet the man’s hair reassuringly. 

“You okay?”

“This stupid cat almost gave me a literal heart attack, Gyu.”

Jihoon answered shakily, looking a little pained as he rubbed at his chest, apparently still coming down from the adrenaline. Mingyu giggled out a shaky laugh in response, still kind of shocked too. 

“She’s not stupid, she’s gonna be a  _ mommy!” _

He protested lightly, still petting his roommate reassuringly as he turned back to peer at the cat. 

“She called out to you because she wanted your help, hyung.”

He pressed a hand over his chest, touched by his own words. 

His hyung wasn’t being haunted by a ghost, he was being haunted by a pregnant kitty who was all alone in this world. She must have recognized the cat-like qualities of Seventeen’s slightly antisocial, slightly grumpy, but also slightly clingy genius producer. Oh, it touched Mingyu’s heart. 

“What am  _ I _ supposed to do?”

Jihoon sounded unconvinced. 

The cat seemed to finally find the strength to stand, swirling her black fluffy tail in the air as she slowly padded over and rubbed against the older man’s knee. He tentatively offered a hand out, and she rubbed her face into it with a purr. 

Mingyu made some kind of inhuman sound with his throat that meant  _ oh my god this is so cute I’m going to die, _ and Jihoon shot him a look of warning. The younger man cleared his throat. 

“I think we should take her to a shelter.”

He suggested, reaching out to scratch between the cat’s ears as she gingerly padded up onto Jihoon’s lap and curled up again. The older man heaved a heavy sigh and slumped back against his roommate, completely exhausted. 

“Have I mentioned this is ridiculous.”

Mingyu circled his arms around Jihoon to pull him closer against his chest, careful not to disturb the kitty in his lap. 

“I’m just glad it wasn’t a ghost.”

He commented, then cracked up at the look Jihoon shot him from below as he pointed an accusatory finger in his roommate’s face. 

_ “You’re _ glad?!  _ You’re _ the one who made this so terrifying in the first place with all that ghost talk!”

He smacked Mingyu’s shoulder for emphasis, exclaiming, 

“You said a ghost was gonna  _ follow me home, _ you asshole!”

The cat in Jihoon’s lap let out another loud groan that made them both jump slightly before the older man turned the accusing finger on her. 

“And  _ you!” _

Mingyu threw himself over the cat and pouted up at his roommate.

“It’s not her fault! She’s in pain, she must be having contractions or something.”

Jihoon pinched the bridge of his nose and let out a deep breath through his nose. 

“Stop pretending you know anything about cat pregnancy,  _ doctor Mingyu.” _

He finally snapped as he shoved his roommate aside to gingerly scoop the cat up in his arms.

“Fine, we can bring her a shelter. Let’s just get out of here.”

Mingyu chuckled at his jittery roommate, peering around the room. 

“What, leaving so soon?”

He tilted his head innocently and leaned into Jihoon’s space, who leaned away with a frown (just like a cat might). 

“Sure you don’t want to hook up in a haunted house?”

The younger practically singsonged, then cracked up at the look of distaste his roommate gave him.

“I can’t think of anywhere  _ less _ romantic for us to hook up, Gyu.”

Yeah, in retrospect, Mingyu wasn’t quite sure why he thought this would be a more romantic outing. The movies were pretty misleading in that way. Sure it had been kinda cute at first, when Jihoon was practically leaping into his arms. But it kinda fell apart once  _ he _ started to shit his pants, too. Well, who could’ve predicted this place would be an  _ abandoned hospital. _ Yeesh.

The cat in his arms groaned weakly, and Jihoon added with a roll of the eyes, 

“And that’s  _ before _ adding an extremely pregnant cat to the mix.”

He then held her up to look in the eyes, imploring, 

“Can’t you learn to meow like a  _ normal  _ kitty?”

Mingyu made another sound indicating cuteness overload as he climbed to his feet. It was extremely specific and just a  _ tad _ excessive of him considering they were just totally cool, casual fuck buddies, but he was a little bit  _ obsessed _ with the way Jihoon talked to animals as if he 100% expected them to understand him. 

Perhaps his roommate was more aware of the fact that he was potentially part cat than he let on. Looked like Chan was gonna win  _ that _ bet. 

Jihoon carefully crawled to his feet without disturbing the cat in his arms and started for the exit, Mingyu falling into step beside him and resting a hand on his shoulder since they couldn’t hold hands. 

Once outside they decided the best course of action was to walk home and get the car, but not before stopping at the corner store to pick up some cat food for  _ mama,  _ as they’d started calling the cat. 

“You eat as much as  _ me, _ mama…”

Jihoon cooed to the cat curled up in his lap where he sat in the passenger seat as Mingyu drove them across town to the shelter, holding a second can of cat food up for her to lick clean. 

“Isn’t it more like,  _ you _ eat as much as a  _ severely pregnant cat?” _

The younger man grinned over at him before turning his attention back to the road, but not before catching the look Jihoon shot him. 

They ended up dozing in the car for about an hour once they got there as they waited for the shelter to open, jumping awake to the horrible sound of mama’s groan at the crack of dawn, the sky just beginning to turn purple as the sun started to rise. 

Blearily they carried her inside to the somewhat bewildered front desk clerk, who led them into the back to meet with the onsite vet and didn’t even point out once that they were two members of Seventeen and also they had bedhead and looked like shit. 

Mama, to her credit, knew an opportunity when she saw one, and finally got down to the business of delivering her kittens as soon as she was set down in the vet’s office, which was vaguely fascinating and nauseating for Jihoon and Mingyu to witness before being shooed out of the room by scurrying shelter volunteers trying to do their job. 

They stuck around long enough to make sure mama was okay, and even let the still slightly shell shocked receptionist snap a picture with the two of them, the cat, and the rest of the shelter staff. 

Then they stumbled out into the early morning, Mingyu insisting they get some breakfast and coffee before he attempted to drive them home, which they made quick work of in relative silence, comfortable and sleepy and a little confused about how exactly their night had gone. 

It wasn’t until a few hours later, while the pair were passed out in their room and dead to the world, that Seungcheol dropped a screenshot of a new Dispatch story featuring the picture from the shelter into the members’ group chat, with a headline that read:  _ Seventeen Members Rescue Pregnant Kitty and Name Her MAMA: Hint at MAMA Awards Participation?  _

SC: is  _ this  _ what you guys get up to during those late night studio hangouts?!

DN: wow did anyone bet on cat rescues or did we all just lose out on money

SY: why tf would they name a cat after MAMA awards

BSK: i think they meant mama cause she’s pregnant dumbass

SY: hey dispatch is the dumbass they said it!

BSK: i didnt say they werent 

YJH: i bet that jihoonie was getting pussy does that count

SC: NO

DN: NO 

JS: NO

YJH: I think it does

JN: i dont get it

DN: I’ll explain

SC: NO 

JS: NO

WW: wait i wanna hear this lol 

LJH: WILL YOU ALL SHUT UP 

LJH: we’re trying to sleep 😴😴

**Author's Note:**

> shoutout to my beta reader and friend jiandgyu check them out on twitter and ao3 <3


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